Blumenau:  In an attack that shocked the nation and increased pressure on the government to stop the violence, a man wielding a hatchet stormed into a creche in Brazil on Wednesday, killing four children, according to authorities.

In the assault in Blumenau, a city of 366,000 people in southern Brazil close to the Atlantic coast, at least four additional kids were hurt.

According to authorities, the attacker, who entered the building by vaulting a wall, turned himself in at a police station. He didn't seem to be associated with the facility, which provides after-school programmes, nursery services, and preschool instruction. Ages of the deceased ranged from 5 to 7, according to the authorities.

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Ronnie Esteves, the police detective in charge of the investigation, told television reporters that authorities were looking for a motive. The justice and education ministers promised to fund fresh violence-prevention initiatives a few hours after the attack.

Aparecida Valeria The mother of the 5-year-old girl at the centre, Camilo, claimed she was at work when a coworker learned of the situation. Gustavo, her husband, received the call and hurried to the school where he later discovered that his daughter had lived.

Outside the centre, Gustavo Camilo told The Associated Press, "The moment I saw her, it was a relief." But we're sorry for everything that happened, especially for the other kids who lost their lives.

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They are children; they are not cruel," Valeria continued. They have five years old. How could a 5-year-old treat this person like this? One of the girls killed, according to Franciele Chequeto, was friends with her son Gabriel, who is 7 years old.

Chequeto remarked, "He wasn't understanding. I sat him down and informed him that he wouldn't be able to see some of his small friends any longer. Ulisses Gabriel, the state's civil police chief, confirmed that the attacker was a 25-year-old man from Parana state, a neighbouring state.

He will face charges for both attempted and actual murder. According to Gabriel, police believe that the assault was an individual incident unrelated to any other crimes. Weeping parents were seen outside the private nursery known as Cantinho do Bom Pastor in images that were broadcast on networks.

The local Globo television affiliate reported that the attack happened on the playground at the centre. The affiliate, NSC, displayed a picture of the suspect with a closely cropped head of hair. His identity has not yet been verified by police.

The mayor of Blumenau, Mário Hildebrandt, cancelled classes and announced a 30-day period of mourning. The reports of additional assaults or threats against schools in the area, according to the authorities, are untrue.

Attacks on schools have become more common in Brazil in recent years. A student in Sao Paulo fatally stabbed a teacher last week while also injuring a number of other people.

At least one attack on a creche has occurred in Brazil in the past. The same attack took place in Santa Catarina state in May 2021, when a perpetrator killed two adults and three children under the age of two by stabbing them with a dagger.

According to a report from researchers led by Daniel Cara, an education professor at the University of Sao Paulo, 16 violent incidents or attacks took place in schools between 2000 and 2022, with four of them occurring in the second half of last year. The report was created by 12 researchers for the Lula da Silva administration, including journalists, educators in public schools, psychologists, social scientists, and activists.

According to Flávio Dino, the justice minister of Brazil, 150 million reais ($30 million) from the country's public security fund will be used to improve school safety, he told reporters in Brasilia. According to him, the funds will be used to expand a Brasilia-based team that monitors deep-web communities as well as increase policing efforts. Dino had a meeting with representatives of student associations earlier on Wednesday.

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In the meantime, Camilo Santana, the education minister, declared the formation of a team to deal with school violence. The group will be led by Santana, and its first meeting is slated for Thursday.

The rise in these attacks cannot be attributed to a single cause, but there is what Cara calls "a crisis of perspective" regarding economic issues and the likelihood that each attacker has experienced moments of rage and violence, including bullying and harassment.

They are recruited by online communities and look for a way to exact revenge on society because they lack perspective and feel victimised, Cara told the AP over the phone.

"They are typically young people who navigate communities where violence is glorified, worship neo-Nazi and fascist symbols, and have a masculinist, misogynistic, and racist discourse," Cara continued.

According to experts, April is a particularly vulnerable month for school shootings because it coincides with the anniversaries of the 2011 Rio de Janeiro school shooting and the 1999 Columbine school shooting in the United States. According to Cara, these incidents are exalted in violent communities and may serve as catalysts for fresh assaults.

"Words are inadequate to comfort the families. Anyone who has lost a relative understands that there are no words, the president said, wiping away tears as he opened a meeting of ministers on Wednesday. He asked for a minute of silence to be observed by his ministers. The same age as one of the victims in Blumenau, Lula's grandson died in 2019 from a bacterial infection. He was 7 years old.